Holling 
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INDEPENDENCE OF HAYTI. /<^^*^''5i.% 

/• N/ — 

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SPEECH M:>A.^??^1^ 

OP / M^iy^SH'^^l 

HON. THOMAS D. ELIOT, OF MASS., ^ 



IN 



THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 3, 18G2, 

ON THE BILL TO AUTHORIZE THE APPOINTMENT OF DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATIVES 
TO THE REPUBLICS OF HAYTI AND LIBERIA. 



Mr. ELIOT said : Mr. Speaker, the recog- 
nition of Haytien independence is among 
the duties to be discharged by the present 
Congress, as an act both of justice and of pol- 
icy. A bill similar ia its provisions to the bill 
now before the House should have become a 
law many years ago. Certainly of Hayti — and 
it is concerning that people that I intend to 
speak — national recognition should have been 
long since cheerfully given. If President Jeff- 
rard were not a patriot, as he has been found 
to be by his entire administration hitherto, if 
he were not a statesman " clothed and in his 
right mind," especially if he were vindictive, 
as the race of which he is perhaps the chief in 
• this age are ignorautly called, the time might 
be at hand when he would prefer to dipense 
with our tardy welcome, for he and his people 
may prosper without us as well as we and our 
people may prosper without them. /There are 
but few loyal States in this Union that are not 
richer every year because of Hayti, nor is there 
one that might not multiply annually the results 
of Haytien commerce if Haytien independence 
were by our Government cordially recognisedi 

It is one of the marvels of modern diplomacy, 
and it will always be reckoned among those 
suicidal acts for which but one cause may be 
justly assigned, that we have suffered this half 
century to pass away without consenting to 
perform an act of simple national justice and 
to receive what would have been, so far as we 
desired it, a monopoly of commercial inter- 
course. 

The considerations of republican justice and 
of high national policy fitly to be urged in be- 
half of the speedy passage of the bill pending 
before Congress for Haytien recognition de- 
mand attention. 



The history of that island upon which, in 
December, 1492, Columbus set up a " large 
cross " " as an indication," ia the words of his 
diary, " that your highnesses [Ferdinand and 
Isabella] possess the country, and principally 
for a token of Jesus Christ our Lord, and the 
honor of Christianity "—from the time of its 
discovery until the present day, is full of ro- 
mantic interest. Three hundred and seventy 
years ago it was said of it, " the houses and 
towns are very handsome, and the inhabitants 
live in each settlement under the rule of a sot- 
ereign judge, 'to whom they pay implicit obe- 
dience. Their magistrates are persons of ex- 
cellent manners and great reserve, and give 
their orders by a sign of the hand, which is 
understood by all with surjrising quickness." 
Columbus was seeking gold. LasCasas, iuhis 
abridgment of the Journal of Columbus, says 
that the admiral " hoped to find, at his return 
from Castile, a ton of gold collected from the 
natives, and that mines and spices will have 
been discovered, and all these in such abund- 
ance that before three years the king and queen 
may undertake the recovery of the Holy Sep- 
ulchre." And in his own diary Columbus 
added : 

" For I have before protested to your highnesses that 
the profits of this enterprise shall he employed iu thd con- 
quest of Jerusalem, at which your highnesses smiled and 
said you were pleased, and had the same inclination." 

In a letter which Columbus wrote to Don 

Rafael Sanchez, treasurer of Ferdinand and 

Isabella, he says : 

" In the island named Espanola there are lofty and beau- 
tiful mountains, large cultivated tracts, woods, fertile fic'ds, 
and everything adapted to the purposes of agriculture, the 
pasturage of cattle and the erection of houses. The excel- 
lence of the harbors here and the abundance of the streams 
which contribute to the salubrity of the climate, exceed 
imagination. Here are found divers sorts of iirccious drugs, 
gold, and metals." 

In a letter to Luis De Santangel, comptroller 



f: 



l^ 



i:^r 



In 



of the treasury, written " on board the Caravel, 

off the Azores, February 15, 1493," Columbus 

saya : 

"There are palm trees in these countries of sis or eight 
sorts." * * " Beautil'ul I'orosts of pines are 

found, and fields of vast extent. Here is also honey and 
fruits of a thousand sorts, and birds of every variety. 
The land contains mines of metals, and inhabitants without 
number. The island of Espanola is pre-eminent in beauty 
and excellence, offering to the sight the most enchanting 
view of mountiiius, plains, rich ilekls for cultivation and 
pastures for flocks of all sorts, with situations for towns and 
settlements. Its harbors are of such excellence that their 
description would not gain belief; and the like may be said 
of its abundance of largo rivers, the most of which abound 
ia gold. The trees, fruits, and plants of the island differ 
from those of Juana, and the place contains a great deal of 
spicery, and extensive mines of gold and other metals." 

In the same letter, speaking again of Hispan- 

iola, Columbus says : 

" This is a most beautiful island, and altho'igh I have 
taken possession of them all in the name of their highnesses, 
and every one of them remains in their power and as much 
at their disposal as the kingdoms ot Castile, and although 
they are all furnished with everything that can be desired, 
yet the preference must bo given to Espanola, on account 
of the mines of gold it possesses and the facilities it offers 
for trade with the continent and countries this side and be- 
yond that of the great Can, which traffic will be great and 
profitable. I have accordingly taken possession of a place 
which I have named Villa de Navidad, and built there a 
fortress, which is at present complete and furnished with a 
sufficiency of men for the enterprise ; with these I have left 
arms, ammunition, and provisions for more than a year, 
and expert men and all necessary arts." 

Columbus supposed that he was describing 
a portion of India. He believed during his 
life that he had thrown open a new way to the 
ancient commercial regions. He died in pov- 
erty and disgrace, a disappointed man, ignorant 
that he had made known a new continent, sep- 
arated from the whole civilized world by two 
immense seas. 

Aristotle, in his work Concerning Heaven 
and Earth, declared that one might pass from 
India to Cadiz in a few days. And Seneca 
said that a ship might speedily sail, with a fair 
•wind, from Western Spain to India. Fernando, 
the son and biographer of Christopher Colum- 
bus, referring to Seneca, said : 

" If, as some assure us, he was the author of the trage- 
dies which go by his name, we may be certain that he 
refers to this fact in the choru.s to Medea : 
' Venient annis 
Secula seris, quibus Oceanus 
Vincula rerun) laxet, el ingens 
Pateat tellus. Typhis quo novos 
Detegat orbes, noc sit Tcrris 

Ultima Thulc. ' " 

In the last days will come a time when ocean 
shall loose the bonds of things. A great land 
shall be discovered. A Typhis shall disclose 
new worlds, and Thule shall cease to be the 
end of the earth ! 

Hispaniolaor San Domingo, or Hayti, as the 
natives call it, (the Highland country,) is 
known to be one of the richest and most pro- 



ductive, as well as one of the largest of the 
West India islands. It is nearly four hundred 
miles in length, and about one hundred and 
fifty miles at its widest breadth. After its dis- 
covery by Columbus, the western portion of the 
island was occupied by the French. The char- 
acter of the country, as its name implies, is 
mountainous, but on its mountain sides are 
gardens that blossom in luxuriance. The 
healthful breezes from the hills, although their 
latitude is but aboct twenty degrees north of 
the equator, invigorate and inspire the inhabi- 
tants whose good fortune has cast their lives in 
those pleasant places. All along the coast are 
roadsteads and commodious harbors. The no- 
ble bay of Samaua on the southeastern coast 
lis about sixty miles in length. Within it whole 
fleets may ride in^^afety. A river, navigable 
inland, running from these mountains a course 
of nearly one hundred miles, pours itself into 
this entrance from the ocean. Other bays and 
harbors are found along the coast with safe 
channels and good anchorage, although else- 
where the shore, rock-bound and dangerous, 
prevents approach. 

Port an Prince, the capital of Hayti, is built 
upon its western coast. The harbor there is 
from eighteen to twenty-one feet in depth. 

The tourists and historians who have recently 
described this country confirm the glow- 
ing statements of Columbus as to its soil and 
climate and various vegetable productions. 
The mountains and valleys, fertile and well 
watered, yield plentifully all that may supply 
the wants or the luxuries of the inhabitants. 
And the statements which I shall submit for 
examination show that an amount and variety 
of produce are yearly exported which entitle the 
Haytien Government to a high rank among 
commercial nations. There are twenty two 
rivers and many smaller streams which have 
their source in the highlands of the interior, 
and which run in different courses to the sea ; 
and at a distance from the sea of some thirty 
miles is an inland lake, with a circumference of 
over sixty miles, whose waters are salt and of 
the specific gravity of ocean water. The forest 
and other trees of this rich country are highly 
valuable. Large quantities of oak and pine, 
suitable for ship timber, are found. The ma- 
hogany wood, the manchineel tree, variegated 
like our Tennessee marble, and taking as high 
polish, grow in profusion. The iron wood 



and rare Brazil and satin woods are found in 
abundance. The cotton and palm trees are of 
great size and every variety. The coffee, cot- 
ton, and sugar cane are there in native and 
high luxuriance. The plantain and vanilla, 
rice and ginger, tobacco, turmeric, and indigo, 
are plentiful and of fine quality. The fruits 
and vegetables proper I will not attempt to 
specify. From a soil of great fertility, and 
under a climate so varied, it would not be easy 
to name a fruit or vegetable or flower that this | 
Queen of the Antilles does not claim among 
her products. Nor is she without great min- 
eral wealth. But the hand of enterprise is 
needed there to develop and make available her 
mineral productions. 

Of the earlier political history of Hayti it is 
not of importance to speak at length. With its 
present and its future we have now to do. la 1793 
there were in the French possessions at St. Do- 
mingo about fi^e hundred thousand slaves. By 
one act of the commissioners of France, on 
the 29th of August of that year, they were 
made free. This was a war measure. Free- 
dom was proclaimed under the war power, and 
as a measure of military expediency. For 
some years before this emancipation, civil war 
raged between the white men and the raulat- 
toes. The negroes looked on, not concerned 
in their slavery where defeat or victory might 
come. The planters were negotiating with 
England for aid, and the Government of Spain 
had planted its standard, holding at that mo- 
ment several strong positions upon the island. 
Two agents of the French Government then 
represented the republic. They watched the 
progress of the war, and observed with clear 
eye that the possessions of France were about 
to be wrested from her hands. Polonel and 
Southonax were there, but they had no army 
able to cope with England and Spain. They 
could wait for no reinforcements from home, 
for the English army was on its way. Just 
then they converted a half million of neutrals 
into an army of allies. Within thirty days after 
freedom v/as declared the soldiers of England 
appeared. But they had delayed too long. 
France had acted. The convention at Paris 
hastened to ratify the act of emancipation, 
which was confirmed in February, 1794. A ^ 
soldier and a statesman appeared, and Tous- 
saint L'Overture, with a small army of negro 
oldiers, offered himself to France. For nearly 



four years the war continued, when Spain and 
England retired, and the French republic pos- 
sessed what had belonged to Spain. For some 
years after this, the history of Hayti was made 
by this remarkable man. Toussaint was the 
opener of Haytien greatness. He was not only 
a military genius. He organized the Govern- 
ment and regulated labor and enforced a peace 
which at once brought wealth to the planter, 
secured wages to the laborer, invited commerce 
to the island, and won for himself the respect 
of the civilized world. But Toussaint trusted 
Napoleon, and died a prisoner in France. 

The armies of the republic were, however, 
not able to conquer this island of freed men, 
and in 1804 they were driven from her shores. 
During the last half century these people have 
maintained their independence and have gov- 
erned themselves. They achieved an independ- 
ence more ample than we fought for in 1776, and 
without foreign aid. We contended for politi- 
cal freedom. They had first to secure their 
civil rights as men. We had money from 
abroad and heroic friends and munitions of war. 
They fought their own fight, with their own 
men, without aid from abroad, and without 
sympathy or countenance or comfort from one 
civilized nation of the earth. We were of 
England's best blood. The Pilgrims of the 
North and the Huguenots and the Cavaliers of 
the South were born of free parents and edu- 
cated to freedom. They were used to arms. 
Sons of brave sires, they were fitted by birth, 
by culture, by education, by wealth, by all the 
means and appliances of modern civilization, to 
create for themselves a nation, and to com- 
mand respect. Hayti was a nation ofnegroee. 
Nearly one-half her people had been imported 
slaves, and they had been trained in the schools 
of slavery. Opposed to them were the best 
soldiers of Europe : Napoleon's men with Na- 
poleon's generals in command. Yet they con- 
tended successfully, and secured a national in- 
dependence which they have now maintained 
these fifty years. , 

There is no civilized nation, I believe, of po- 
litical importance, that has not long ago rec- 
ognised Haytien independence. England, 
France, Spain, Prussia, Russia, Austria, Italy, 
Holland, the States of Germany, Sweden, Den- 
mark, Mexico, and Brazil, have severally wel- 
comed her as an equal and as a friend. The 
first Powers in the world have to-day their con- 



suls general at the capital of Hayti. At Saint 
James and in Paris, our own ambassadors meet 
upon equal terms before Queen and Emperor 
the accomplished ambassadors commissioned 
bj Jeffrard to represent his people. 

President Lincoln, in his message to us in 
December last, said : 

"If any good reason exists why wc should persevere 
longer in "withholding our recognitiou of the independence 
and sovereignty of Hayti and Liberia, I am unable to diS' 
cover it." 

At this hour the Republican party controls, 
or should control, the administration of our 
Government. For acts and for omissions that 
party will be held responsible. But this is no 
party question, much less is it a question first 
presented to us by the party now in power. 
Thirty-five years ago the commercial interests 
of the Union, sea-board and inland, urged upon 
Congress the importance of speedy action. 
England was then establishing friendly and in- 
timate relations with a people whose national- 
ity she had already acknowledged. Ten years 
ago an able memorial was addressed to Con- 
gress, now upon the files of the Senate, assert- 
ing in strong terms and with clear argument 
the national reasons why the Government of 
the United States should no longer delay to 
recognise the sovereienty of Hayti. Men of 
all political opinions have committed them- 
selves to the justice and the moral necessity of 
such recognition. Since that time the steady 
and rapid growth of Hayti as a nation, her 
Christian civilization, and her varied commerce, 
have still further removed the question from the 
arena of party politics and made it national. 
It is as a national question that I proceed to 
consider it. 

More than twenty-five years ago England 
acknowledged Haytien independence, and at 
this time every considerable civilized Power of 
the world, with one exception, holds intercourse 
with her as an admitted sovereignty. This 
condition of things settles the fact of independ- 
ence. It will not be made a question that this 
nation is self-sustaining and fully equal to the 
functions of self-government. But although 
our own Government have failed hitherto to 
acknowledge that independence, yet, such are 
the laws ot commercial life, our commercial 
relations have become so important and are so 
growing in value, that among sixty nations with 
whom we hold intercourse, more than one halt 
of them are of less value to us than Hayti is. 
No act is wanting but one of national recog- 
nition on our part to enhance largely the mu- 
tual advantages of Haytien commerce to us 
and to them. Soon after the able administra- 
tion of Jeffrard commenced, he took measures 
to ascertain the maritime and commercial 
business of his people, and in the statistical 
tables officially published we have proof how 
important to them our commerce is, and how 
important to us its continuance will be. In an 



1 official paper, published at Port au Prince in 
j September, 1860, there is an article on the 
I commerce between the United States and Hayti. 
; I give a portion of it as published in this 
; country by Mr. Redpath, who has labored so 
earnestly for Haytien independence and so 
successfully for American emigration there. 

"The navigation of the United States in Hayti employs, 
under the American flag, one-half of the foreign ships that 
frequent our port. As these vessels are generally smaller 
than those which come from Europe, they repiescnt only 
forty -two per cent, of thi; total tonnage. But it should be 
remarked that, thanks to their full cargoes both in arriving 
and returning, ihey can 0x their rate of freight at more fa- 
vorable terms than their competitors. The remark which 
ha? almost become an axiom, that the navigation of a peo- 
ple develops itself in proportion to the products exported, 
finds here a new proof. The value of the importations from 
the United States, and the amount of the duty paid by them 
to the Treasury, is about forty per cent, of the total. It 
represents S"2, 2511,010 worth of imports, of which ninety per 
cent, arrive under the American flag. The chief of tliese 
importations are pork, in its diflerent forms, and flour, 
j which amount to about fifty per cent, of them. Subjoined 
are figures of the quantities introduced, and of the indication 
of their value : 

Candles $20,000 

Butter and cheese 40,000' 

Gold and silver 6-5,000 

Furniture and manufactured woods 25,000 

j Cotton stuffs 220,000 

1 Flour 500,000 

I Salt beef 20,000 

Fish 230,000 

i Pork, ham, and lard 475,000 

I Iron 30,000 

! Soap 215,000 

! Articles of which similar are produced in the coun- 
I try : 

Lumber and shingles 70,000 

Rice 1 0,000 

Other articles 65,000 

Tobacco, in leaves and manufactured 150,000 

Refined .sugar 15,000 

2,250,000 
"Fork, building woods, tobacco, rice, refined sugar, 
amount to forty per cent, on the total importation. In pro- 
portion as our general industry shall develop itself, the im- 
j portation of these articles will diminish, for we are quite as 
well situated as the United States to produce such articles. 
It is greatly to be desired that our culture of tobacco, rice, 
and sugar, should be sufficiently advanced, in order to ex- 
clude from the list of our consumptions the productions of 
the Southern States of the Union. This reduction , however, 
■would hardly impede our commerce with the L'nited States, 
whose growth in the arts and manufactures increases every 
day. What our exchanges would lose on the one side, they 
would gain on the other." 

During the first six months of 18G0, the com- 
me.rce of Port au Prince, which has a popula- 
tion of about twenty thousand persons, is thus 
stated : 

"The import tonnage has risen to 17,865 tons, and the 
exports to 19,SC0. As usual, the United States hold the 
first rank, and are represented in the following table by 
9,600 ions. 

France 5.000 tons. 

England 2,000 " 

Hanover, Denmark, Sweden, Hamburg, Belgium, Holland, 
and Spain complete the list. 

The amount of the invoices of imi^ortation is SI ,458,145, 
.'Spanish 

For the United SUtes $665,400 

For Euglaiid 343,870 

For France 228,680 

The countries named above make up the ditfcrenco. 

The amount of exportation, reduced into Spanish dollars, 
at the rate of fourteen Haytien dollars to one Spanish, 
SI, 408 ,000. This comprises : 

France $775,000 

United ctatcs ■.. 275,000 

England 190,000 



'/ 



And the other countries. 

The import duties amount to $300,000 : 

United Status $104,000 

France 74.000 

Enguind 53,000 

Other countries 09,000 

The export duties iimoimt to $273,000 : 

France $13,500 

United States. 46,000 

Kiiglaud 33,000 

Other countries 61,000 

Exportation comprises the following products : 

Coflec 15,000 000 pounds. 

Logwood 8,400,000 " 

Cotton 93,000 " 

Cocoa 685,000 " 

JIahogany 88,000 feet. 

The exportation of coffee in French vessels lias amounted 
to 7,500,000 pounds. 

American 2,300,000 pounds. 

English 1,835,000 " 

Danish 1,060,000 " 

Swedish 750,000 " 

Other countries 1,555,000 " 

" It -will be observed, on examining the above figures, 
that the imports and exports are nearly to the same amount 
— a fact which, If it were general, would indicate a healthy 
condition in the commerce of importation." 

******* 

" By far the largest portion of the exports and imports oc- 
cur in tlie months of September, October, November, aud 
December. During the first six months of every year, not 
more than one-third of the annual exports and imports are 
made. The foregoing figures, therefore, must be regarded 
in the light of this fact, to give a true result in estimating 
the yearly commerce of the capital. 

" So far for ihe commerce between the States and Hayti, 
and for the trade of the chief port. These subjoined figures, 
which are also oflicial, will give an idea of the general com- 
merce of the Republic : 

" The commerce of Hayti employs annually between five 
and si.x huudrsd vessels, giving a total of about seventy 
thousand tons, distributed amon£ the following nations : 

Ships. Tonnage. 

United suites 250 30,000 

England - 90 12,000 

Fi-ance 70 12,000 

German, Danish, Swedish, Russian, Hol- 
land, Belgium, Italian, Central America, 

Spauish 50 7,000 

"To these figures must be added twenty-tive per cent., 
in order to arrive at their registry tonnage; for the Haytieu 
mode of computation gives invariably between twenty -five 
aud thirty per cent, less than the ship's register. 

" The import duties paid to the State, under the Empire, 
averaged between $800,000 and $900,000 annually, and 
were derived as follows : 

Uriited States 5300,000 

England 190.000 

France 190^000 

Other Flags 180,000 

" The ai.uual export<vtions of the principal staples may be 
estimated thus : 

Coa'ee 50,000,000 lbs. Havtien. 

Logwood .... - 50,000,000 " ■" 

Cotton 700,000 " minimum. 

Cocoa 1,200.000 " Haytien. 

Mahogany 2,500,000 feet reduced." 

It is plain that intercourse with us has been 
profitable to them ; but it is equally plain that 
a large proportion of the articles imported into 
Hayti from this country may be obtained by 
her, with less convenience, through the British 
provinces. For some years prior to the ad- 
ministration of Mr. JefFrard, American vessels 
were permitted to enter at Port au Prince as 
favorably as those of England. There had 
been a law imposing an additional duty of teij 
per cent, on vessels from Governments not rep- 
resented at Hayti. This was repealed by the 
Emperor Solouque, who received at his capital 
the commercial agent of our Government, on 



condition that he might appoint commercial 
agents (who should be citiaens of the United 
States) at New York, Philadelphia, and Bos- 
ton. But such a condition of things cannot be 
expected to continue. Mr. Jeffrard has too 
high a respect for himself and for his Govern- 
ment to continue to the United States privileges 
which have, it is fair to presume, not been with- 
drawn by him, because he had good reason to 
hope and to believe that the time was at hand 
when the United States, who were the first people 
to free themselves from colonial dependence 
upon a European Government, would consent to 
acknowledge Hayti, who, next after ourselves ia 
point of time, successfully accomplished a sim- 
ilar independence. 

But, sir, if it be for the interest of Jeffrard 
to continue and to extend our mutual inter- 
course, it is not of less importance to us than 
to them. We are natural, commercial allies of 
Hayti. We have what she wants, and she has 
in large abundance that which we need. From 
our middle and western and northern States 
there is nothing which we produce in greater 
quantities than we consume that she is net 
ready to buy. Let me state her commerce 
with a single one of our maritime cities. I find 
in an article pi'epared by Mr. Henry Melrose, a 
statement of Haytien trade with Boston for the 
year 1861. It is, in brief, as follows : 

" To commence with the imports, the value of the coffee 
imported from Hayti into Boston for the year 1861 amounted 
to $405,427. The value of the importations of logwood, for 
the same period, was $140,569. Of cotton the sbipments 
w^ere small, and the value was estimated at only SS,683. 
That of lignumvitas was still less, it being only §4,680. So 
that the total value of the year's imports amounted to 
$559,359. 

" From the list of exports, it appears that the quantity of 
alewives shipped to Hayti, during the last year, was 12,689 
Ulirrels aud 62 half barrels; butter, 8,720 pounds, 2,499 
kegs, 880 pails, 57 jars, 4 boxes, and 635 packages; bread, 
548 barrels, 30 boxes, 101 barrels, and 32 other packages of 
various kinds; of beef, 395 barrels. Ill half barrels, 15 
quarter barrels, 32 kegs, and two other packages; boards, 
616,.f;01 feet; codfish, 36,-543 quintals, 3,281 drums, 4 half 
drums, SO quarter drums, and 776 boxes; candles, 10 cases, 
2,847 boxes, and 5,000 pounds; segars, 23,500; crackers, 612 
cases, 1,146 kegs, 035 tins, and 160 other packages; cheese, 
3,082 boxes and 6,792 pounds; flour 25,324 barrels; lard, 
3,477 kegs, 3,400 pails, 82 cases, 220 packages, 29,190 
pounds, and several packages of other denominations; 
mackerel, 9,997 barrels, 48i. half barrels, aud 131 other 
packages; pork, 13,187 barrels; rice, 101 barrels, 3, 67 half 
barrels, and 19,740 pounds; sugar, 233 barre's, 304 boxes, 
152 half barrels, and 30,916 pounds; soap, 116,930 boxes, 
225 quarter boxes, and 100,800 pounds; tobacco, 3.5,000 
pounds, and 71 packages of various kiuds; fish, 9.56 barrels, 
2a7 packages, and 2,920 boxes; house frame, 121,461 feet; 
and hams, 7,399 loo.se, 5,175 pounds, and 244 barrels, tier- 
ces, or casks. Other articles were exported in smaller 
proportions." ^ 

" The couveyance of these exports called into requisition 
the services o) 305 vesse s, cliiefly brigs and schooners, 
varying in size from 150 to 300 tons. Of that uimiber, there 
we, e 5 barks, 149 brigs, and 1.51 schooners; and assuming 
that each vessel had a crew of six men, the trade would 
thus give employment to upwards of 1,800 seamen. To how 
many thousands of other persons this branch of commerce 
gives regular employment it would be ditlicult to determine; 
but judging from the list of exports, the number must be 
very large. 

" Let the facts, however, speak for themselves. 
Value of Imports. 

" The value of the Haytieu imports into the port of Bos- 
ton for the year ending December 3^, 1861, wore — 



Coffee 
Logwood 
Cotton 
Lignumvita 



Barks 

Brigs 
Schooners 



■ $405,427 

■ 140,535 

8,C83 
4,080 

$559,359 



Number of Vessels Employed. 



5 
149 
151 

305 



I regret that it is not yet in our power to 
show the commerce of Hayti and all the United 
States during the year 18G1. Our annual vol- 
ume of Commercial Relations will exhibit it in 
due time. But in the reports annually pub- 
lished by Congress from the Secretary of the 
Treasury on the commerce and navigation of 
the United States will be found valuable tables, 
from which I have, had prepared with care 
statements showing our commercial intercourse 
for the year ending June 30, 18G0. I shall 
publish these statements with my remarks, and 
I ask attention to them. 

A. 

Stalement of goods, wares, and merchandise, of the growth, 
produce, and mamifaeture of the United Stales, exported to 
Hayti during the year ending June 30, 1860. 

Adamantine and other cau- 
dles 93,386 pounds... S13,452 

Apples 125 barrels... 473 

Ashes, pot and pearl 2 cwt 16 

s-^ {837w:is;.-:} 11-^S2 

Beer, ale, porter, and cider, 

(casks) 555 gallons... 106 

Beer, ale, porter, and cider, 

(bottles) 204 dozens.... 439 

Biscuit or ship bread {Jg bo^f &i; } ^,535 

Boards, plank, and scant- 
ling 3,130 M 53,fil9 

Books and maps 148 

Bricks, lime, and cement.. 2,8S0 
Brooms and brushes of all 

kinds 206 

Batter 211,644 pounds.. . 34,875 

Cable aud cordage 101 cwt 089 

Carriages, and parts of, rail- 
road cars, and parts of. . . 3,018 

Cheese 121,137 pounds. . . 13,422 

Copper and brass, and man- 
ufactures of 2,135 

Drugs and medicines 13,127 

Earthen and stone ware 926 

Fire engines 120 

Fish, dried or smoked 55,652 cwt 192,046 

Fish, pickled 11,562 barrels.. . 65,668 

Gold and silver coin 87 ,750 

Gunpowder 575po\mds... 81 

Hams ami bacon 137,476 pounds. . . 15..546 

Hats, (of fur or sili;) 4 J260 

Hats, (palm leaf) 4,179 

Lumber 3,491 

Horses •2 horses 450 

Hops 1,171 pounds.. . 108 

Household fui'nilure 19,950 

Ice 130 tons 320 

Manufactures of India rub- 
ber 337 

Indian corn 57 bushels... 56 

Indian meal 201 barrels . . . 863 

Iron, castings 20 cwt 60 

nails 95,824 pounds. .. 3,374 

manufactures of C9,28'2 

Manufactures of gold, sil- 
ver, and gold leaf 187 

Lard 675,163 pounds. .. &1,987 

Lard oil 10 gallons ... 13 



Lead 

Leather 

boots aud shoes.. . 

Linseed oil 

Mauulactured tobacco 

Manufactures of cotton , 

printed, painted, or dyed 
Manufactures of cotton, 

white and other duck. . . . 
Manufactures of cotton, 

duck 

Manufactures of cotton, 

other manufactures 

Mamil'actures of glass 

Manufactures of hemp, 

thread 

Manufactures of hemp, 

others 

Manufactures of marble and 

stone 

Manufactures of tin 

wood 

Molasses 

Morocco aud other leather 

not sold per pound 

Musical instruments 

Oil, spermaceti 

Oil, whale and other fish. . . 

Onions 

Paints and varnish 

Paper and stationery 

Pork 

Potatoes 

Printing presses and type. . 

Rice 



4,150 pounds. 
2,367 pounds. 
3,203 pairs... 
2,5.52 gallons. 
44,579 pouuds. 



375 gallons.. . 



25 gallons.. . 
5,747 gallons.. , 



27,230 barrels.. 
1,568 bushels. . 



351 tierces.. 
13,175 barrels. 



Kyc, oats, and other small 

■grain and pulse 

Saddlery 

Salt 

.Shingles 

Skins and lurs 

Soap 2,602,132 pounds 



SO bushels.. 
1,417,000 



Spermaceti candles. 
Spirits from grain 

molasses 

other materials 

Spirits of turpentine 

Staves and heading 

Sugar, brown 



2,275 pounds.. . 

354 gallons.. . 

84 gallons... 

432 gallons. .. 

2.284 gallons... 

3,000 

44,880 pounds.. . 



refined 173,208 pouml 



Tallow. 

Tar and pitch. 

Tobacco, leaf . 



210 pounds. .. 
503 barrels.. . 

32 hhds. 

11 cases. 
5,649 bales. 



Trunks and valises 

Uiubrellas, parasols, and 

sun-shades 

Vinegar 

Wearing apparel 

Wheat flour 

All other articles manufactured 
raw 



ooo oai rei:?. . . 

( 32 hhds ) 

-< 11 cases > 

( 5,649 bales j 



3,S83 gallons... 
86,209 barrels... 



$250 
410 
3,469 
1,705 
5,450 



1,570 

106,235 
1,584 

30 

249 

759 

710 

12,893 

03 

411 

2C8 

38 

4,050 

1,23S 

3,309 

2,412 

403 233 

1,172 

5,565 

114,446 

4,577 

1,737 

16 

10,573 

122 

207,857 

790 

180 

28 

162 

1,221 

73 

4,200 

16,101 

20 

1,146 

73,019 

405 

24 

415 

709 

535,013 

17.882 
5;634 



Total value of exports in American vessels 2,159,744 

Total value of exports in foreign vessels 282,161 

Total value of exports from the United States to 

Hayti 2,441,905 

B. 
Stalement of goods, wares, and merchandise, of the groivfh, 

produce, and manufacture of foreign countries, expoHed to 

Hayti during the year ending June 30, 1860. 

CofTeo 

Coins, gold 

Beer, ale, and porter 

Clothing, ready made 

Copper, manufactures of. . . 
Cotton, manufactures of, 

plain 

Cotton, bleached, printed, 

painted, or dyed 

Fish, dried or smoked 

Herrings 

Mafkerel 

Other lish, dried, smoked, 

or pickled 



25,905 pounds... 
30 gallons... 


f2,7Sl 

9,500 

20 

340 

477 




1,131 


25,281 cwt 

1,070 barrels... 
628 barrels... 


90 
96.696 
2,700 
4,140 


6,927 barrels... 


30,510 



Fish in oil , sard ines, &c ... , 

Flax, manuliicturi's of 

Figs 1,661 pounds... 

Prunes 2,765 pounds.. . 

Raisins 27,929 pounds. . . 

Other IVuit, green, ripo, or 

dried 

Glass, window 

Gums, Arabic, Barbary, Co- 
pal, &c 240 pounds.. . 

All other gums and resins 

in a crude state 202 pounds . . . 

Gunny bags 

Hemp, and manufactures of 

burlaps 

Hemp, and manufactures of 

cotton b.agging 2,949 runn'g yds. 

Hemp, and manufactures of 

osnaburgs •. . 

Hemp, and manufactures 

not specified 

ludigo 2,868 pounds... 

Iron, fire-arms 

not specified 

Matting 

Nuts, almonds 376 pounds. . . 

others.. 

Oil, castor 5 gallons.. . 

essential, expressed, or 

volatile 

linseed 40 gallons . . . 

olive 225 doz. bots. 

Pens, metallic » 

Printed books and maga- 
zines, in English 

Raw hides and skins 

Silk, manufactures of 

Spices, cassia 2,060 pounds. . . 

cinnamon 30 pounds . . . 

cloves .3,073 pounds... 

ginger, ground 2,000 pounds. . . 

nutmegs 1,903 pounds... 

pepper 63 ,667 pounds . . . 

pimento 743 pounds. . . 

Spirits, brandy 160 gallons. . . 

from grain 578 gallons. . . 

from other material 428 gallons.. . 

cordials 113 gallons . . . 

Sugar, loaf and other re- 
fined 404,965 pounds.. . 

Tin, and manufactures of 

plates and sheets 

Tobacco, cigars 367,000 

Wine, in casks, Madeira 10 gallons 

port 10 gallons 

sherry and St. Lucar 56 gallons 

red wines 455 gallons 

Champague 34 doz. bots 

Wine, in bottles, claret 85 doz. bots. . . . 

MiLdeira 5 doz. bots .... 

port 2 doz. bots 

other 5 doz. bots .... 

Zinc, nails 110 pound.? 

sheets 830 pounds 

other manufactures of 

Value of merchandise not enumerated above 

Value of merchandise exported to Hayti free of 

duty 

Value of merchandise exported to Hayti paying 
duty 



Total. 



183 

321 

2,991 

32 

5 



48 
2,030 

2,380 

352 

3,532 

7,174 
1,626 
50 
25 
10 
54 
111 
7 

2,986 

25 

850 

186 

240 

200 

301 

547 



254 

240 

831 

5,780 

64 

235 

2C4 

202 

147 

39,677 

2,951 

2,967 

29 

30 

240 

290 

257 

351 

41 

38 

40 

70 

70 

64 

940 

12,281 

219,496 

231,777 



Value of merchandise exported to Hayti in Amer- 
ican vessels $212,910 

Value of merchandise exported to Hayti in for- 
eign vessels , 18,867 

C. 

Statement of gno<h, scares, and merchandise of the grmvfh, 
produce, anil inaniifaciure of foreign countries , imjiortal 
into Ike United States from Hayti, during the year ending 
June 30, 1800. 

JIERCHAXmSE FREE OF DUTY. 

\ Articles, the produce of the United States 

\ brought back .1B2,865 

Coffee 15,621,751 pounds.... 1,679,657 

.Gold 900 



Silver $18,010 

1.50 
,825 
,918 



Copper, (old) 

Cotton, (unmanufactured) 

Dye-woods, in sticks 239 

Ellects , personal and household 

Old junk and oakum 

Rags of every materia), except wool 

Seeds, trees, shrubs, bulbs, plants, and roots not 

otherwise provided for 

Specimens of natur..l history 

All other articles 



-0 



Total 1,968,007 



MEROIANTIISE PAYIXG 

Cocoa 

Flax, (linens bleached or 
unbleached) 

T,imcs i 

Gums, (Arabic, Barbary, 
Copal, &c.) 

All other gums and resins, 
in a crude state 

Hats and bonnets of straw 
or other vegetable sub- 
stances 

Honey 

Cables, chain 

Old and scrap iron 

.lute, sisal grass, coir, &c.. 

Molasses 

Musical instruments 

Linseed oil 

Raw hides and skins 

Spices, (cassia) 

Ginger.. 

Spirits 

Syrup of sugar cane 

Tobacco, (cigars) 

Wood, (lignum vitne) 

Wood, (mahogany) 

Merchandise not enumerated 



pUTTES AD VALOREM. 

323,499 pounds 



1,700 pounds. 
2,.507 pounds. 



15,086 gallons. 

35,6 pounds. 

487 cwt 

35 cwt 

64 gallons. 

254 gallons. 

26 pounds. 
8,294 pounds. 

30 gallons. 
2,160 pounds. 

55,000 



above. 



$25,128 

467 
25 

314 

246 



23 

5,210 

347 

223 

120 

13 

25 

201 

22,690 

5 

391 

37 

113 

286 

439 

30,783 

7,510 



Total of merchandise paying duty ad valorem, 94,656 
Total of merchandise free of duty 1,968,067 

Total of merchandise imported into the United 
States from Hayti 2,062.723 

Imported in American vessels 1 ,921 ,1S0 

Imported in foreign vessels 141,543 

The immense value to us, from whatever 
portion of our common country we may come, 
of this great commerce, is now apparent. It is 
but the beginning of what it shall be if states- 
manlike counsels shall prevail. The commer- 
cial nations of Europe are very mindful of our 
present relations with Hayti, and are skilfully 
seeking at this moment to strengthen their own 
connections there, and to anticipate and neu- 
tralize the effect of our proposed recognition. 
England has summoned from the East Indies, 
and has dispatched to the Court of the Queen 
of the Antilles, Mr. Spencer St. John, as her 
charge d'affaires and consul general. Mr. 
Henry Byron, long resident at Hayti. is his 
vice consul. The Marquis de Forvin Jansou 
represents France, and Senor Antonio Alvarez 
is there from Spain. These are all new ap- 
pointments, and the ofBcers are said to be able 
and experienced diplomatists. If the United 
States would retain her commerce with Hayti 
she should, under the bill now before the House, 
select accomplished representatives to guard 
her great and growing interests. 

Regarded as a question of state policy, affect- 
ing mere pecuniary interests, such legislation 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



1 Mill mil mil III nil ,„^ 

013 700 942 ^ 



13 of more importance to us than our costly 
negotiations with Japan, where less than one 
twentieth part in value of our products is re- 
ceived at an immense expenditure of money. 
Hayti purchases from us $1,200,000 more of our 
exports than are taken by Norway and Sweden 
combined. We import from Hayti more by 
fifty per cent, than we receive from Turkey. 
Even Russia, with her immense region of terri- 
tory and her population of seventy millions of 
people, does not receive of our industry more 
than is already made available by Haytien 
commerce to the five or six hundred thousand 
persons of that West India island ; and while 
this is true, it is also a fact that our imports 
from Russia fall short of those from Hayti about 
five hundred thousand dollars annually. 

The importance of these interests to us is 
well understood iu Europe. In France, many 
years ago, a work was published by her Gov- 
ernment, in which it is said : 

"Favored by tlioir proximity to Hay ti, the Americans 
are detcnniucd on reducing the price of their sail provis- 
ions, their flour, soap, &c., to so low a figure tliat European 
competition is out of the question. They export from their 
warehouses at New York, wines, hardwares, hats,. caps, 
French sillis. and English manufactures. They furnish the 
Haytiens with the oils and pastes of Italy, and monopolize 
the sale of candles, tapers, cheese, and timber for building. 
They maintain the .same superiority iu the export trade. 
They take three foui<t,hs of the diQeront woods cut iii Hayti, 
two thirds of all the coffee exported, and are the exclusive 
exporters of fustic, and nearly so of tortoise shell. In flue, 
the commercial sutjcriority of the United States extends 
over every part of the empire, and in its rapid progress 
bids fair to exclude altogether the vessels as well as the 
merchants of Europe. Among the countries with which the 
United SUdes have commercial intercourse, Hayti holds the 
ninth rank as respects tonnage. All the Stales arc more or 
Jess interested in Haytien trade. The nortlieastern ttates 
find a market there for their Osh and other merchandise; 
Peunsylvanin. Nurlhern Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, 
Kentucky, Illmois, and Missouri, for their salted jjork; Ver- 
mont, New York, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Ohio for 
their salted beef; Philadelphia and Boston, North and South 
Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky, for their household furni- 
ture, their rice, and tobacco. The manufactories of New 
England, New York, and Pennsylvania have ah-oady secured 
an extensive market in llayti for their cheap coUon textiles, 
and successfully compete with European mauuiaclurers." 

Such was the review of American commerce 
with Hayti given many years ago officially in 
France. There can be no doubt that the mo- 
nopolies then prophesied might have been re- 
alized if the opportunities offered to us had 
been appreciated and accepted. It ought not 
to be wondered at that our pertinacious refusal 
to extend the ordinary courtesies of national 
recognition had crippled the energies of our 
merchants and disabled the enterprise of our 
citizens. Never has it been more important 
to us than now to find a welcome and a certain 
market for our wealth of agriculture and our 
infinite industrial products. Nor has there 
been a time when it was so essential as now 
that we should enter into treaties with the 



Government of Hayti.' Treaties are not made 
until nationalities are admitted. We need her 
harbors for our national vessels, and the time 
is at hand when we may find nowhere else so 
opportune and fit accommodation. 

Within a few years past, invitations have 
been extended from the Hajden Government 
for such emigration as a portion of our popu- 
lation now begins earnestly to seek. Provi- 
dence opens to us an answer to the earnest cry 
of philanthropy for a home for those who are 
houseless and without home here. But first, 
this bill must become a law, and fit treaties 
must be made and rights recognised and 
friendly intercourse establised. It is fortunate 
for us that such a man as Fabre JeCTrard con- 
ducts the Haytien administration. He is a 
true man and a wise statesman. Already the 
influence of his administrative ability is felt iu 
the assured security of life and ot property 
under his rule. He loves his country, and if 
his public life shall be continued he will make 
her great at home and everywhere respected. 

There was recently a court-martial ordered 
at Port au Prince to try certain conspirators 
against the Government. There were twenty- 
eight accused and twelve condemned to death. 
Jetfrard, in a proclamation issued by him in 
January last, commuted their sentence. And 
these are the reasons he assigns : 

" At the moment of ordering the execution of this sen- 
tence, tilled with the sentiments of humanity, of which I 
have given more than one proof, and to which the interest 
of my country has sometimes obliged mc to do violence, I 
have asked myself if the life of these citizens, led astray 
for a moment by blind ambition, could not be spared tins 
once, without endangering society. Everything has coun- 
selled clemency ! — The reprobation with which the criminal 
movement of November last was received, the complete iso- 
lation of its authors, the perfect tranquility which the 
country-has enjoyed before as well as since this attempt, 
and which these madmen, notwithstanding their efforts, 
could not in the least disturb, and finally the stability of 
the republic. Using the power guarantied by the Constitu- 
tion, I have commuted their sentence of death to tliat of 
imprisonment. 

'• Citizens ! The Government of the republic is able to 
show itself generous, because it possesses that powerful 
force which the sympathies and devotion of the people 
give. 

" To maintain its power, it does not need, like those odi- 
ous and tyrannical systems, to impress terror by its inflex- 
ibility in chastisement - It will ever be, with the aid of 
Providence and the concurrence of good citizens, that I shall 
endeavor to counteract all attempts against public order, 
that I maj' thereby the more elfectuallj' insiu'e that security 
which is so neces.sary to the country lor its moral and ma- 
terial advancement, as well as the development of its com- 
mercial relations with foreign nations. 

" Done at the National Palace of Port au Prince the 29th 
of January, 1SG2, in the fifty-ninth year of the independ- 
ence . 

JEFFRAKD. ' 

. A republic whose citizens, after an independ- 
ence of sixty years, have chosen such a Pres- 
ident, shouitl be made welcome by us among 
the family of nations. 



SCAMlfELL & CO., PRINTERS, CORNIER OF SECOND STREET k INDIANA ATENUE, THIRD FLOOR 



